Noise on start up 1.8 16V

[Scott G 10]

Hi guys. Sometimes on start up there appears to be a loud tapping from the top end of the engine, it usually disappears after a second. It will also sometimes be a little noisey and rattley until it is warmed up though nothing like the noise on start up. Every now and then also even when warmed up it seems the tapping noise seems to come and go intermittently. I'm worried that the oil pump may be on its way out or the oil pickup is blocked with some unwanted crap. That or my cams are about shot. The little bit of camshaft I can see through the filler cap looks fine but that's only 1 of 16 lobes. It seems like a chew on to inspect the cams etc what with the intake plenum design, but if this needs doing then so be it. In the meantime if anyone can shed a little light on what might be the problem if any I would be very appreciative.

Edited August 10, 2012 by Scott G
spelling mistake

[joby 0]

Have you tried an oil change? making sure its the correct grade oil and good quality, may just be a gunked up cam follower, How many miles has the engine done? These engines sometimes can be a bit rattly on start up, Get an oil pressure check done at a decent garage if your worried about the pressure, Its easy to pull the sump and check the oil pump pick up pipe, failing that if the noise goes away after start up, live with it as it should be fine

 

---------- Post added at 5:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 5:18 AM ----------

 

Reading your post again i`d say it was more than likely a stuck cam follower,oil pressure not building up in the follower, Mine did this the other day and the engine has recently been rebuilt but after a good thrashing it was quiet as a mouse

[carrots 1]

i put a flushing oil in mine the last oil change and it seemed to cure it .

[davidwort 0]

probably just noisy tappets, nothing to worry about, possibly run some tappet cleaning fluid in the oil but I'd probably leave well alone and just change the oil frequently, it won't do any valvetrain damage, it's just annoying and expensive to fix on the 16v as there's 16 of them! very hard to tell which one or ones aren't pumping up properly so not really worth changing just a few given the effort to take the cams out on a 16v.

They can go from just a few secs of tapping first thing when cold to making a hell of a racket at idle all the time.

[Scott G 10]

Ta guys. I'm gonna get it serviced soon so i'll get the lad to do what's necessary. He's a friend so he'll sort it out and check it over. I'll just take it easy til then.